Holding device



March 26, 1963 M. E. COLE HOLDING DEVICE Filed April 7, 1960 //\/VE/ /7 O/Q MANNY E. COLE BY smarts Patented Mar. 25, 1953 3,082,778 HOLDING DEVICE Manny E. Cole, 11035 72nd Road, Forest Hills, N.Y. Filed Apr. 7, 1960, Ser. No. 20,652 3 Claims. (Cl. 134-166) This invention relates to a holding device, and refers more particularly, to a device for holding articles having small internal cavities having small openings (such as pipettes, vials, hollow needles and the like), to be cleaned by a liquid jet.

Pipettes, vials, hypodermic needles, and the like, come in various outer diameters having various size openings and internal passageways. Such articles are quite fragile and have orifices and passageways which are in general quite narrow and, therefore, diflicult to clean. One prior art washing operation comprises repeatedly submerging the articles in a cleansing liquid until orifices and passageways are clean, and then submerging the articles repeatedly in a rinsing solution. A second prior art method of cleaning the orifices and passageways is to apply a liquid jet of cleansing liquid against the end of the article and directed toward the opening leading to the internal cavity. Both of these prior art methods result in high rejection rates because foreign matter is often lodged in the opening or passageway and prevents the cleansing liquid from doing a thorough job. The jet method as utilized in prior art has also proved unsuccessful because there is no suitable prior art holding device which can be utilized to hold fragile articles on a mass production basis.

Prior art holding devices also allow the liquid jet to follow the line of least resistance around the exterior of the articles, such as a pipette, when foreign matter is lodged in the pipette openings, since the prior art jet methods attempt to wash large bundles of pipettes at one time, rather than washing the pipettes individually as in the present invention.

An object of the present invention is to provide a holding device for holding fragile articles having an orifice or passageway which is to be cleaned by a liquid jet, and which does not have the disadvantages of prior art holding devices, and which holds individual articles of various sizes.

Another object is to provide a holding device which will not allow a jet of washing liquid to bypass the opening in an article such as a pipette during a washing process.

A further object is to provide a holding device which is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, which is eflicient in operation and which may be utilized to hold fragile articles, on a mass-production basis, of various sizes, individually.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent in the course of the following specification.

The objects of the present invention may be realized through the provision of a holding device comprising at least one alignment-holding member made of a resilient material and suitable for holding fragile articles of various outer diameters, and a support member having a tapered internal passageway running therethrough and disposed in alignment with the resilient alignment-holding member. An article such as a pipette, having an opening and internal passageway to be washed, is supported in the alignment-holding member with its end in contact with the tapered portion of the support member with its opening in alignment with the passageway through the support member. A jet of cleansing liquid may then be directed through the passageway in the support member and into the opening and passageway of the pipette.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing showing, by way of example, a preferred embodiment of the inventive idea.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a holding device of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top view thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE '1;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of an alignment-holding member.

The holding device 16 of the present invention is shown in FIGURES 1 to 4, inclusive, and comprises alignmentholding members 11 and 12, spacer washers 13 and 14 for spacing members 11 and 12, a first plate 15 having an opening 16 and having an alignment ring 17 connected thereto for aligning the alignment-holding members 11 and 12 and spacer washers 13 and 14 with opening 16; a second plate 18 having a threaded opening 19, clamping means 20 such as bolts or the like, clamping together first plate 15', second plate 18, alignment holding members 11 and 12, and spacer Washers 13 and 14; and a support member 21 having an exterior threaded portion 22 threaded in the threaded opening 19, support member 21 also having an internal passageway 23 running therethrough, said passageway 23 having a tapered portion 24.

First plate 15 and second plate 13 may be made out of metal, wood, plastic or any other suitable material and the opening 16 should have a chamfered edge 25 so as to prevent damage to pipette 26 as the pipette 26 is placed in the holding device 10.

The alignment-holding members 11, 12 are resilient members made out of a material such as nylon which will not damage a fragile article and which is sufficiently resilient to give under applied force so as to accommodate various size articles and yet which will assume its original shape after the article has been removed. As shown in FIGURES 2 and 5 alignment-holding members 11, 12 have a central dish-shaped portion having centrally disposed openings 27, 28 and having slots 29 and 39 extending radially from the openings 27, 28, respectively, so as to allow for increasing the size of the openings 27, 28. Four slots such as 29 have been found to be suitable for allowing accommodation of various size articles. Of course, the number of slots 29, 31 may be varied depending upon the type of article to be placed therein, the type of material used for the alignment-holding members 11, 12, or the use to which the holding device 10 is to be put. When two alignment-holding members 11, 12 are used the slots 30 of alignment holding member 12 may be staggered with respect to the slots 29 of alignment-holding member 11. This construction assures that the pipette 26 will be held in a vertical position at the level of both alignment-holding members 11 and 12, and will be held about its entire circumierence. The spacer Washers 13, 14, alignment ring =17 and clamping means 20 assure that openings 27, 28 will always be in alignment with opening 16 of first plate 15 and opening 19 of second plate 18.

The support member 21 is threaded into plate 18 so that passageway 23 will be in alignment with opening 16 and openings 27, 28, whereby pipette 26 passes through opening ldand is held by alignment members 11, 12 with its end against tapered portion 24 and with the pipette opening 31 disposed in alignment with passageway 23. The tapered portion 24 allows various size pipettes 26 to be fitted thereagainst without any space existing between support member 21 and pipette 26. The support member 21 should be made out of a material such as nylon so as not to damage the pipette 26, but need not be resilient.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of an alignment-hold ing member 11, showing the dish-shaped portion and slots 29. Warm jet 32 aids in making members 11, 12 more resilient.

The manner of operation and use of the holding device of the present invention is as tollows: after the device 10 is assembled as described above, the pipette 26 is passed through opening 16 and thence through the central openings 27, 28 of alignment-holding members 11, 12, respectively. The end of pipette 26 is placed in contact with tapered portion 24 of the support member 21 so that no space exists between pipette 26 and member 21. The alignment-holding members 11, 12 hold the pipette 26 in vertical alignment against tapered portion 24. A liquid jet 32 of cleansing liquid is directed from jet device 33 through the passageway 23 and against the end of the pipette 26. The liquid jet 32 is directed at the pipette opening 31, and in the usual case will directly enter the pipette opening 31 so as to clean the internal passageway of the pipette 26. Should the pipette opening 31 be clogged with foreign matter, or should the pipette be misaligned against the tapered portion 24, the liquid jet 32 may not be directed directly into pipette opening 31. However, since the end of the pipette '26 is in contact with taper 24 with no space therebetween, the liquid jet 32 cannot escape around pipette 26, and the accumulated pressure will force the foreign matter out of opening 31 and the liquid jet 32 will, consequently, clean the interior of the pipette 26.

The holding device 10 may be made in various sizes suitable for holding any type of article and the use thereof is not necessarily limited to the Washing process for pipettes described above.

Among the advantages of the holding device 10 of the present invention are the following: the device holds fragile articles without causing any damage thereto; the device is suitable for holding pipettes, vials, hypodermic needles and the like, having narrow passageways and small orifices during a washing process and results in efiicient thorough cleaning of said articles by the liquid jet method; and the holding device of the present invention is easy and inexpensive to manufacture and is easy to use both individually and on a mass-production basis with a plurality of these devices used in one assembly.

It is apparent that the described example is capable of many variations and modifications within the scope of the present invention. All such variations and modifications are to be included within the scopeof the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A holding device for holding an article having an internal cavity opening to be cleaned by a liquid jet, comprising a plurality of resilient alignment-holding members each having a dish-shaped central portion with an opening passing therethrough and a plurality of slots extending radially from said opening, said alignmentholding members being disposed with said openings in alignment and with the alignment of said slots of one alignment-holding member being stagg red with respect to said slots of any other alignment holding member, whereby said openings may be varied in size by placing a larger size article therein, said resilient alignment-holding members holding said article so placed, a support member having a passageway extending therethrough, and means for maintaining said openings and said passageway in alignment, said passageway having a tapered portion at one end disposed toward said alignment-holding members, whereby said article held by said alignmentholding members may be placed in sealed contact with said tapered portion with said internal cavity opening disposed in alignment with said passageway, said passageway having another tapered portion at the other end disposed in a direction away from said alignment-holding members, whereby a liquid jet can be directed through said passageway and said cavity cleaned.

2. A holding device for holding an article having an internal cavity opening to be cleaned by a liquid jet, comprising a plurality of resilient alignment-holding members each having a dish-shaped central portion with a centrally disposed opening passing therethrough and a plurality of slots extending radially from said opening, said alignment-holding members being disposed with said openings in alignment and with the alignment of said slots of one alignment-holding member being staggered with respect to said slots of any other alignment holding member, whereby said openings may be varied in size by placing a larger size article therein, said resilient alignment-holding members holding said article so placed, a support member having a passageway extending therethrough, and means for maintaining said openings and said passageway in alignment, said passageway having a tapered portion intermediate its length and disposed toward said alignment holding members, whereby said article held by said alignment-holding members may be placed in contact with said tapered portion with said internal cavity opening disposed in alignment with said passageway thereby blocking passage through said passageway around said article, said passageway having another tapered portion remote from the first mentioned tapered portion and disposed in a direction away from said alignment-holding members, whereby a liquid jet can be directed through said passageway and said cavity cleaned.

3. A holding device in accordance with claim 2, wherein said means comprises a first plate having an opening therein, a second plate having an opening therein, an alignment ring connected to said first plate, said alignment-holding members being disposed between said plates and held by said alignment ring, said support member being disposed in said opening of said second plate and connected thereto, and clamping means for clamping together said first and second plates and for maintaining said alignment-holding member openings and said passageway in alignment with said opening of said first plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 540,268 Newell June 4, 1895 723,792 Wickham Mar. 24, 1903 1,856,000 Smith Apr. 26, 1932 1,955,436 Mott Apr. 17, 1934 2,192,087 Kost Feb. 27, 1940 2,339,187 Pain Jan. 11, 1944 2,691,381 Strunck Oct. 12, 1954 2,734,518 Harrison Feb. 14, 1956 2,786,479 Dungfelder Mar. 26, 1957 2,917,812 Wolke et al Dec. 22, 1959 2,924,190 Greiner et a1. Feb. 9, 1960 

1. A HOLDING DEVICE FOR HOLDING AN ARTICLE HAVING AN INTERNAL CAVITY OPENING TO BE CLEANED BY A LIQUID JET, COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF RESILIENT ALIGNMENT-HOLDING MEMBERS EACH HAVING A DISH-SHAPED CENTRAL PORTION WITH AN OPENING PASSING THERETHROUGH AND A PLURALITY OF SLOTS EXTENDING RADIALLY FROM SAID OPENING, SAID ALIGNMENTHOLDING MEMBERS BEING DISPOSED WITH SAID OPENINGS IN ALIGNMENT AND WITH THE ALIGNMENT OF SAID SLOTS OF ONE ALIGNMENT-HOLDING MEMBER BEING STAGGERED WITH RESPECT TO SAID SLOTS OF ANY OTHER ALIGNMENT HOLDING MEMBER, WHEREBY SAID OPENINGS MAY BE VARIED IN SIZE BY PLACING A LARGER SIZE ARTICLE THEREIN, SAID RESILIENT ALIGNMENT-HOLDING MEMBERS HOLDING SAID ARTICLE SO PLACED, A SUPPORT MEMBER HAVING A PASSAGEWAY EXTENDING THERETHROUGH, AND MEANS FOR MAINTAINING SAID OPENINGS AND SAID PAS- 